Attempts have been made previously to provide different structures for use by handicapped people and especially those who have only one usable hand or no hands. One such example is the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 2,885,686, dated May 12, 1959 to C. V. Giaimo and in which mechanism is shown that is operated by a small electric motor to effect movements of articulated elements attachable to fingers of a disabled human hand and cause the fingers to be moved to grasp an object, such as a pencil or otherwise. The motor is controlled by a switch adapted to be actuated by human breath through a tube, one end of which is inserted in the mouth of the person.
A later development comprises the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,775, dated April 4, 1972, in the name of James W. Ross, and discloses apparatus attachable to the neck and back of the head of a person and actuated by movement of the head and chin of the person to cause mechanical operation of tools of various kinds through the use of springs, links and the like.
Various prior patents which show different types of gripping or clamping mechanisms per se are shown in the following U.S Pat. Nos.
1,397,409--W. S. Duwelius: Nov. 15, 1921
1,499,989--F. Lehmann: July 1, 1924
2,658,415--N. Barowsky: Nov. 10, 1953
3,530,994--H. A. Bourassa et al: Sept. 29, 1970.
The present invention pertains to use by persons having only one active hand. Such persons have great difficulty in performing simple tasks that require holding an object stationary while using or operating with the objects in a desired work function. Because of this problem, many people give up to hopelessness and despair when they are deprived of one hand, either by accident or disease. Presently, rehabilitation science is helping many people of this type but in many instances, the present technology and rehabilitation equipment is inadequate for them to recover and become substantially self-sufficient persons. The present invention focuses upon solutions to the foregoing problem and field tests currently in progress indicate that even most severely handicapped persons can benefit from use of the present invention.